aardvark.dj

Sunday 25 May 2008

Today has been another day marked more by its failures than by any success. I have failed today to: Understand how Movable Type implements the AtomPub API through the atom.cgi script sufficiently to get LoudTwitter to post to my weblog....

Friday 25 April 2008

So here's my sad tale that led to nearly 11 months of not blogging. Don't go expecting Gone with the Wind or anything......... As suggested by my post of 11 July last year, by the middle of the year I...

Monday 29 January 2007

Wow. I honestly thought that 2007 would rise from the shitty ashes of 2006 and give me some kind of hope for the future. Not happening so far..... Don't get me wrong. There are other people facing far, far worse...

Monday 28 August 2006

Boys and girls, this is my poorly jumper. It's an item of clothing that has been with me for in excess of 10 years and it's one of the most comfortable, comforting things I own. Unfortunately, Sharon hates it with...

Friday 14 July 2006

Last month I finally got to go for the flying lesson Sharon bought for our wedding anniversary back in November. After 4 cancelled lessons due to bad weather, the elements finally relented and allowed me up there. I'm not sure...

Thursday 13 July 2006

Today has been a crossroads for a number of reasons. Unfortunately I'm not able to discuss any off them here. Walls have ears and all that...... Why then am I feeling so low? As one door closes (actually several doors)...

Monday 26 June 2006

I've been a little busy of late as the title of this post suggests (It's a quote from angelheaded hipster by the way). Mostly, I've been working and looking after Sharon and the family after her operation. But a major...

Saturday 13 May 2006

Often, it's not until someone else turns to you for advice and guidance that you realise just how much expertise you have in a particular subject / skill. Especially when it's an activity you haven't done for a while and...

Sunday 30 April 2006

Tonight Sharon shaved my head. What do you think? If you're interested in shaving your head then headshaver.org has more information than you can shake a stick at. However, if I decide I like this and planto shave my head...

Friday 7 April 2006

Wow! Look at that. Almost a whole week without a single entry. It's touch busy at the moment. I'm not likely to be doing any blogging over the weekend either because my sister's getting married. So, in the meantime, here's...

Saturday 1 April 2006

Saturday 25 March 2006

I'm in Madrid at the moment on my future Brother in Law's stag do. Last night we hade a few beers and sampled some Tapas. Today we went to Real Madrid's ground, Santiago Bernabeu. Tonight we're off for more beers...

Thursday 9 February 2006

For Christmas I got the Diablo Toasted Sandwich Maker I asked for. And it is very good. Nice, deep sandwiches that hold plenty of filling. It makes very little mess and is completely dishwasher proof. The instruction booklet that comes...

Monday 23 January 2006

It's my birthday tomorrow. I'm 34. To celebrate I've booked to go on the flying lesson that Sharon bought me for our wedding anniversary last year. I'm flying (subject to the weather - which looks good) with the East Midlands...

Thursday 5 January 2006

My New Year Resolution, one of the most important I've made for a long time, lasted less than 24 hours. I'm having a start over again. From now on 2006 officially started on the morning of 3 January. My New...

Tuesday 13 December 2005

It's December. I'm busy. I'm working 4 days a week. I'm doing mobile discos 4 to 5 times a week. When I'm at home I'm doing paperwork for the disco agency; contracts, invoices and bookings. I've had DJs let me...

Friday 18 November 2005

Thursday 13 October 2005

At some point last night, whilst I was fast asleep, someone crept into my bedroom and, without waking me up, smacked me in the face with a shovel. They're very good at this because they managed it without leaving any...

Wednesday 12 October 2005

In the space of a week the time at which I drag myself out of bed in the morning has gone from bright (for non-UK readers substitute weak & washy) sunlight to total darkness. Sunset is also starting to occur...

Thursday 8 September 2005

Looking back at this week 3 years ago: Cultured - I'd competed a test to tell me what type of organisation I should work with. I think the result quite accuractely describes the company I actually ended up with. Anxiety...

Saturday 6 August 2005

This has benn an awful week with 2 particularly awful days. Unfortunately it's not anything I can discuss in public. Take it from me. It's been awful. I had to do one of the hardest things I've ever done. It...

Thursday 7 July 2005

I've just walked half way across London to get to Euston Station. I navigated by following some bloke who I was fairly sure I'd overheard saying he was walking to Euston. I'm tired and sweaty. It started to rain as...

I've decided to try to get home tonight, although I don't know how wiose that is. Much of the transport in the centre is still suspended. I can get a train north from where I am to Victoria Station. If...

I have managed to get out of the centre of London by getting a taxi south to a friend's house. Some transport is starting to run again according to the news but most of the centre is closed down. I'm...

There are rumours that southbound trains are running again but, having spent over an hour in the queue for a taxi (and it's now even bigger than when i joined it) i don't fancy leaving the queue to find out....

As the day goes on, more of London's train stations seem to close. For a great many people taxis are the only way to get home and the queues stretch for hundreds of yards. Taxis will apparently take you out...

I'm stuck in the centre of London today in the middle of the UK first major terrorist attack since 11/9. Apparently (I'm receiving my news relayed by text message from Sharon - although now I'm in an Internet cafe I'll...

Monday 4 July 2005

I broke summat at the weekend. I stressed it too much and it finally broke. Living with it in that state is like having one hand tied behind my back. I'm hoping to get it repaired soon. No. It's not...

Tuesday 14 June 2005

When I was a kid McDonalds sold Root Beer and it quickly became my favourite soft drink. It reminded me of the sarsaparilla drink my Granny used to make me when we visited her. Unfortunately, in the early 1990s, just...

Sunday 5 June 2005

I've had lots and lots to write about of late. I've had very little time to write about anything and, to be honest, very little impetus or desire write recently. Come round with a beer or two and I'll talk...

Tuesday 26 April 2005

19 April 2005, one week ago, was the ninth anniversary of my first wedding, to Karen (pronounced care-ann) Daniel. 5 May 2005 will be the ninth anniversary of her death. The weeks and months after her death are hazy in...

Friday 25 March 2005

I really hate blogs that seem to consist of regular apologies for not posting because someone's "too busy". Yet here I am, nothing for a week and the best I can say is, "Sorry, too busy". Unfortunately, most of what...

Sharon should be going in for a laparoscopy this afternoon to determine whether she has a cyst on her ovary. She was first told this could be a possibility back in July last year. It took several months to get...

Thursday 24 February 2005

One of the few items I've found recently that would go in an "I want this" category but not the "Gadgets" category would be a signed copy of The Art of Discworld by Paul Kidby. Nice. In fact pretty much...

Monday 14 February 2005

Sharon, Happy Valentines Honey. Whether we're rich or poor, I feel like the wealthiest man on the planet. Except I can't afford to buy you expensive jewellery. Other than that I feel like the wealthiest man on the planet. Oh....

Wednesday 9 February 2005

You know, I very nearly told you all what I'd bought Sharon for Valentines Day and the vague plan I have for the evening of Valentines Day. Then I remembered that she occassionally reads this site. I don't think I...

Saturday 5 February 2005

My mum came round yesterday with a pile of old paperwork that she'd cleared out of her filing cabinet. It included some certificates I had received as a Scout and for various activities when I was a child. It also...

Wednesday 26 January 2005

The world feels like it's unravelling at the moment. Everything seems to be slowly but surely going wrong. Sharon hasn't felt well for more than 2 days in a row since the start of they year. Consequently the house is...

Friday 21 January 2005

It's been a busy old week, all in all. On Sunday night I DJed at a staff party for The Entertainment Agency's biggest client (for free). I really didn't want to as I'd got work the next day but there...

Thursday 13 January 2005

Zero thought blogging content. Instant filler. Lazy blog writing. Call them what you will, every now and then there's a blogging meme that captures my attention. The 200 things list below is one of them, although I don't know why....

Saturday 1 January 2005

Friday 31 December 2004

OK, so I said that the entires may be few and far between because of the amount I was working. I didn't realise that they would only become scarce once I'd actually finished working. In fact, everything has become scarce...

Saturday 4 December 2004

Tuesday 23 November 2004

Customer Services Cupid Life Partners UK Ltd Cloud 9 Up There Somewhere 23 November 2004 Dear Sirs My purchase of Wife, Model "Sharon" Many years ago I purchased from you an early model Girlfriend. Unfortunately the available model was not...

Thursday 18 November 2004

Me: I have some pain in my lower abdomen. It's been getting worse slowly during the day. Dr Nice: How's your bowels? Me: Fine. Fine. Been farting like a trooper but there's nothing new there. I think it might be...

Friday 5 November 2004

It was our wedding anniversary on Wednesday. 3 years ago on the 3 November we were married. I had a huge, romantic blog post planned. I planned it in my head as I drove home from work. Unfortunately by the...

According to this list of symptoms, I may be suffering from a 5 year long nervous breakdown. I think I'll just turn the lights off and sit in a corner until the men in white coats come and collect me....

Wednesday 27 October 2004

Sorry. Can't stop. Majorly busy. Up to my eyeballs in it to be honest and not likely to get time to write anything for days. Shame really. Got loads of links to post and some interesting shit to write about....

Monday 18 October 2004

Pretty soon our local hospital is going to put a zipper on Sharon's abdomen. First there's the 3 cesarean sections that she's had, then of course she had to have her gall bladder removed last year. Last week she was...

Wednesday 6 October 2004

Historically I've always worked best under stress. Up to the age of 25 - 26 stress was my main motivator.Work would lie undone until the 11th hour, at which time the impending deadline would kick me squarely in the ass...

Sunday 3 October 2004

Click for Biggie It's only taken a month, but we've finally found the USB lead for our camera and been able to download the pictures we took at Colchester Zoo last month. I'll set up a gallery for some more...

Saturday 18 September 2004

Thursday 2 September 2004

We went to Colchester Zoo today to see my adopted aardvarks. 3 hours each way with 3 kids in the car, it was actually a lot less painful than I was expecting. The zoo itself was excellent. We were there...

Sunday 29 August 2004

At night we have visitors. Strange alien creatures take over our kitchen whilst the lights are out. The creatures are so alien and unexpected that I've been into the kitchen, made a cup of tea and left without noticing the...

Monday 23 August 2004

To many house owners there is a sound that instantly instills dread and fear. A sound that drains the money from your wallet and instantly expands to fill your spare time with DIY repairs and decorations.

Friday 23 July 2004

Sunday 11 July 2004

Sharon's off at the Move Festival tonight to see Morrissey. When she first suggested she wanted to go she asked whether I would go with her. However, I'm not a Morrissey fan. I find his music depressing and I wouldn't...

Saturday 3 July 2004

Today feels like a Wednesday. My Wednesdays normally happen on a Tuesday but they're Wednesdays none the less and today feel like one of those. And if you know what I'm talking about I probably shouldn't have mentioned it....

Sunday 27 June 2004

My fathers day present arrived this weekend. Sharon and the kids have adopted some aardvarks at Colchester Zoo for me (website down at time of writing). Apparently it took Sharon weeks to find a zoo in the UK that...

Friday 18 June 2004

I used to think that as time went by since Karen died the pain, grief and loss would fade away until eventually I was left simply with my memories of her, both happy and sad. It doesn't seem to quite...

Sunday 23 May 2004

I can't remember if I've ever told you (and even a search can't find it) that Sharon was my first serious girlfriend and I was her first serious boyfriend. In 1988, when I was 16 and Sharon was 15, we...

Thursday 6 May 2004

You know that sinking feeling you get when you realise you've completely and utterly screwed up? The one that's sometime accompanied by the sound of crunching metal as you reverse into a parked car. The one you get just milliseconds...

Monday 26 April 2004

Woot! There's been a little flurry of bids for my Manchester United 1999 Signed Football on Ebay and it has finally reached it reserve with over a day left. Here's hoping the action continues and takes the price higher....

Saturday 24 April 2004

My second item on Ebay is a Mamas & Papas pram we don't need any more. This time I decided to put a little more effort into the presentation of the listing. My first item isn't exactly going great guns...

Tuesday 20 April 2004

So here we are again. Every year I convince myself that it's not really effecting me, that I'm OK. But still, at this time of year I become a little more introspective; a little more reserved; a bit more run...

Sunday 18 April 2004

Well, I've done it. After months of nagging from my in-laws I've finally listed my first item for auction on Ebay.co.uk, a Manchester United (Man Utd) 1999 Signed Football. I bought it in a charity auction almost 2 years ago...

I'm proper sick at the moment. Some kind of gastric flu I think. You don't want to know the details. And I'm flying up to Edinburgh this afternoon. That'll be fun. I'm just hoping to be better by tomorrow when...

Saturday 27 March 2004

Well, despite my complete ineptitude when it comes to buying cars, today we picked up a nice Peugeot 406. This is not mine, obviously. It's just a picture I nicked. It's an 8 year old 406 1.9 L TD. Nothing...

Monday 22 March 2004

So, Saturday night I celebrated my creativity a little too hard. And on Sunday god punished me by adding to my reasonable hangover with a rather vicious stomach bug. Well, Connor have it to me (and Sharon) but I'm sure...

Wednesday 10 March 2004

I'm having difficulty getting to sleep tonight. My little chap and his two friends are still black and blue but recovering. They're a little swollen and not nestling as comfortably as usual, but it's bearable. The main discomfort is the...

Tuesday 9 March 2004

Everything went well yesterday and it was all over with the minimum of fuss. We arrived just before 8am (Sharon had to come because I was advised not to drive home) and I was in the operating theatre by 9.30....

Sunday 7 March 2004

Tomorrow, I'm off for one of these. Everybody seems to think I should be nervous, but it really is a tiny simple operation. I have a Prince Albert so a little op (warning - not for the squeamish) under local...

Tuesday 27 January 2004

Nothing to report. I got incredibly wasted on Saturday night as a celebration / commiseration of my birthday, so most of Sunday disappeared too. Monday morning, I was still feeling ill and needed to do some work to get my...

Friday 23 January 2004

Shit. Completely forgot to mention, it's my birthday tomorrow. I don't have a wish list. I don't expect that there's anyone reads this that knows me well enough to want to spend money on me (although I wouldn't be so...

Thursday 22 January 2004

At about 20 minutes past midnight tonight (I assume its GMT but I'm not sure) Sharon and I will have been married exactly 70,000,000 seconds. Find your age or anniversary in seconds, minutes, hours and Mercurian to Plutonian Years at...

Tuesday 20 January 2004

I got one of these last week. And it rocks. Then I installed this. Unsuprisingly my free time productivity has gone down the drain. The trial period runs out in 7 days. I may not pay for the software. It's...

Tuesday 6 January 2004

Following on from yesterday's discovery, I was trawling through the Goats archive. It appears one of the characters may have uncovered my evil plan. An alternative theory is that I've been deprived of the Internet for so long that I'm...

I have Internet access at home once again. If I weren't already an NTL customer I would certainly not have joined up on the back of their recent performance. Every step of every action has been marred by technical and...

Monday 5 January 2004

That has to go down as one of the most stressful Christmases ever. And I still have no Internet access. Here's a tiny tip for everyone; never move house just a few days before Christmas. Especially is you've got 3...

Wednesday 24 December 2003

NTHell told me on Monday that it would be 3 weeks before they could reconnect our telephone, television and Internet at the new house. 3 F*CKING WEEKS! Instant visions of WWW.withdrawal flashed up before my eyes, kids with Simpsons deprivation...

Monday 22 December 2003

We moved house on Friday and it was a major task. I'm still knackered and I still ache. Unfortunately, it's likely to be after Christmas before our Internet connection catches up with us. Updates here may be infrequent until it...

Sunday 14 December 2003

It sorted. Finally. After loads of hassle and almost a month late, we're moving house on Friday, possibly. Well, more of a probably than a possibly but its still not 100%. Unfortunately I was supposed to be DJing Friday lunchtime...

Friday 5 December 2003

Currently Connor has a chest infection (one in a long line of them, he's on antibiotics for the 12th time in his 16 month life), James has gastric flu (running a temperature of 99.7 and miserable as sin) and Chloe...

Sunday 30 November 2003

As soon as they get some stock back in, I'd like some of Morpheus' glasses from The Matrix. You know the ones? They clip onto the bridge of the nose. Update: No sooner than I link it, they remove the...

Sunday 23 November 2003

In theory, we should be moving house in 5 days. In practise, it's not going to happen. But we could be moving at any time in the next 3 weeks (hopefully). So we're busy packing, throwing, disassembling and organising. Hence...

Thursday 13 November 2003

I'm a little busy at the moment. For personal reasons we're one person down at work, a consultant I was working quite closely with. Consequently my work load is a little heavier. Coupled with the fact that my concentration is...

Thursday 6 November 2003

Yesterday, with the exception of actually getting to see V Graham Norton being recorded, pretty much sucked. Sharon and I had a big argument in the morning which sucked. We chose to make a diversion in the morning to meet...

Tuesday 4 November 2003

We're off to see V. Graham Norton being recorded tomorrow. Yesterday they phoned and asked if I could send through photos of me as a baby, a young boy, a teenager and a recent photo. Today they phoned and asked...

Monday 3 November 2003

I want somebody to share Share the rest of my life Share my innermost thoughts Know my intimate details Someone who'll stand by my side And give me support And in return She'll get my support She will listen to...

Sunday 26 October 2003

Hello. My name is theaardvark and I am forgetful. It has been several hours since I last forgot anything significant. This morning I forgot that I was running the bath and caused water to overflow. I only realised when it...

Friday 24 October 2003

Isn't it amazing how a few mid-week days off work, with midday lie-ins, can completely mess with not just your body clock but you internal calender too. Despite having been at work this morning and working from home this afternoon,...

I've been a little poorly. Doting fathers everywhere will know the story. Your darling child picks up a bug. Mum keeps him/her off school, suddenly Mum is struck down. You take a little time of work to help her cope...

Tuesday 21 October 2003

Sharon's been poorly today. Immobilised by a sickness bug. So I've been doing housework since 4 o'clock. That means no real time to blog. But I did find a little something to point you toward. Doorsteps is a cute little...

Sunday 19 October 2003

Today, Sharon and I went shopping for Chloe's birthday present. She's 12 on Wednesday. We've planned for quite a while, together with her Dad, to buy her a computer. So we dragged ourselves over to Dunstall Park where they have...

Wednesday 8 October 2003

I'm having problems with my computer. I have since I installed the new chip and motherboard a couple of months ago. A couple of times a week, on boot up it gives a "Checksum Error" and resets the BIOS. I...

Sunday 5 October 2003

Ever have a blue day you can't explain? A day when, for no reason, you can't lift yourself out of the doldrums? When you could easily have stayed in bed all day, hidden from the world where people seem to...

Tuesday 30 September 2003

Friday 19 September 2003

Once again, we're 6 days before pay day and we've run out of money. 3 months ago it didn't used to be like this. We were actually clearing our overdraft off. But for the last couple of months we've been...

Sunday 14 September 2003

From: JlXXXXXXX@aol.com Sent: 14 September 2003 22:36 To: [my personal email address] Subject: Gemma. Hello Paul, Just heard about you from Gemma's mum Heather. I suppose this goes without saying really " Gemma is extremely special to all of us",...

Wednesday 10 September 2003

I really, really (really, really, really) want one (well two actually) of these. Really, really really. Can you tell what it is? Take another look. And read a couple of articles. It's a professional Technics CD (and MP3) player with...

Thursday 4 September 2003

It feels like a week where not much has happened. But in-hindsight there's a couple of milestones achieved this week. James started school and Chloe started High School. Both seem to be doing well although James is a little less...

Monday 1 September 2003

Just can't get my head round work this morning. I think I overdid it slightly at the weekend. I need 2 to 3 days of solid sleep to get my head together. However, that's not very likely. In other news,...

Wednesday 27 August 2003

OK, here's the deal. The house Sharon and I want to buy is £130,000 (it was £135k but they accepted our offer of £130k). Our house is on the market at £90,000. I can afford to increase my mortgage by...

Monday 18 August 2003

I had the real Monday Morning Blues this morning. I was not a happy bunny at all. Too much partying at the weekend I guess. Then I got this email in response to some advice I gave: Paul Thankyou for...

On Saturday I did something I haven't done for ages. I went out clubbing to a "big" club. Alan and I made the 45 minute trek up to Coalville to go to Passion and had an excellent time. Unfortunately we...

Friday 8 August 2003

Ok, so don't ask why but I've kind of been in denial that we're re-entering the whole buying and selling houses thing. I mean; I can't ignore it. Sharon's been a little demon getting our house ready and nagging me...

Wednesday 6 August 2003

All of my spare time at home is currently being soaked up by a Windows XP install (re-install, re-install, curse, re-install). Dive into Mark has a very good guide to what I would be going though if I knew what I was doing.

Monday 4 August 2003

Sounds like I've gotsome writing to do. Lets see, power went off at 11pm Thursday and came back on at 5pm Saturday. That’s 42 hours. So that's £100. That should replace the frozen food in my freezer but it's not...

Friday 1 August 2003

Turn's out the problem with my PC wasn't minor. Somehow the processor has got fried and probably taken the motherboard with it. Soooooo that's £150 plus I'll need to spend before I can get it working again. Bugger, bugger, bugger,...

Soooo, the big news today is that our house, along with 18,000 other people in the vicinity, has been without electricity for 10 hours. The power went off last night at about 11pm, after spending 5 or 10 minutes at...

Monday 21 July 2003

Just over 7 years ago my first wife died. We'd been together for almost exactly 3 years and married for just 3 weeks. Over the period of our relationship I'd made some mistakes. The sort of mistakes that get made...

when asking him for a record.... 1) When are you going to play something good? - Firstly, you're saying my music is crap. Secondly, you appear to expect me to read your mind and work out what you like. I...

I'm getting old. I know I'm getting old because yesterday afternoon Sharon and Al had to almost physically drag me away from the ironing in order to go to the park. The UK is experiencing its second mini-heatwave of the...

Sunday 6 July 2003

Ever spend an entire weekend with your arse firmly in your hands? In such a stinking mood that you take it out on everyone around you but with no real explanation? It's been a tough weekend and it's mostly been...

Sunday 15 June 2003

"I've found a nice, cheap bath suite" she said. "It's only £195" she said. "Pete says he fitted his in a day" she said. "He says he'll come over on Saturday and help you" she said. "And I'll buy some...

Friday 13 June 2003

Can't be bothered. Really can't be bothered. I've been feeling like this for a few days. I just can't be bothered with anything very much. It's a Friday afternoon at work and I'm really struggling with my motivation to keep...

Sunday 8 June 2003

I spent most of yesterday finding, selecting and then collecting my Fathers Day present one week early. A touch unusual for a fathers day present I know, but a damn site more permanent than a "Worlds Best Dad" coffee mug....

Wednesday 28 May 2003

My house eats socks. I now own 3 pairs of socks and approximately 50 odd socks, enough to fill a small crate. There's nothing unusual about that, it happens to everyone. 80s observational humour would have been lost without the...

Saturday 10 May 2003

Connor has a cold at the moment and he's teething, which is making for a broken nights sleep. Somehow he manages to sleep deeply from 7pm when he's put to bed until just 15 minutes after Sharon and I go...

Thursday 8 May 2003

I have nothing really to add today. It's been a strange kind of day. Its sheer normality has seemed completely out of sorts. There was no solemn Bugle Call Retreat, no mass silence. There was no let up at work...

Wednesday 7 May 2003

Tomorrow, 8 May, is the 7th anniversary of the death of my first wife, Karen Taylor (nee Daniels). We were married for just 3 weeks having married on 19 April 1996 before the brain tumour that had left her paralysed...

...been mostly stressed to buggery. No particular reason. At work we account for our time on timesheets so that the office manager can calculate how much to bill our clients. To date we have used weekly timesheets and I have...

Monday 5 May 2003

Thursday 1 May 2003

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!Here is how you matched up against all the levels:LevelScorePurgatory (Repenting Believers)Very LowLevel 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)Very LowLevel 2 (Lustful)ExtremeLevel 3 (Gluttonous)ModerateLevel 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)HighLevel 5...

Wednesday 30 April 2003

I'm going straight from home to meet with a client today because the client's only a few miles from my house. The client arranged the meeting for 10am so I had a massive lie in (for a weekday anyway) until...

Tuesday 29 April 2003

Have you ever noticed, when you get together with an old friend whom you haven't seen for months, you have less to talk about than you have with the people you see everyday? Despite the fact that more has occurred...

Saturday 26 April 2003

It's been a while since I've done a meme, so here's a Saturday one. Found via Globe of Blogs - Saturday Scruples! A patient calls late Friday to inquire about a test result. You're only a lab technician and can't...

Friday 25 April 2003

Saturday 19 April 2003

I've been a little slack here for the last couple of days, but I do have an excuse (well 2 occurances of the same excuse). Sharon & I had friends over on Thursday night and Friday night and consequently have...

Sunday 13 April 2003

Sharon and I are feeding next doors 3 cats whilst they are on holiday this week. This afternon, when I walked through the door I thought I'd discovered the remains of an over exhuberent pillow fight....

We're having a naming ceremony for Connor on 1 June 2003. Neither Sharon nor I are particularly religious so we couldn't go with a christening but we still wanted to have the opportunity to gather a family and friends together...

OK. I know I've been a little obsessed of late and not posted anything much other than the trials of setting up a new site. But lets face it, what with the war dominating every TV channel and most of...

Sunday 30 March 2003

I've been a touch busy for the last few days. What with Sharon still being ill, looking after the kids and working. But what little free time I do have (between 8pm when the kids are in bed I've managed...

Tuesday 25 March 2003

2 1/2 hours sleep last night because Connor's got a nasty cough. I'm soooo not a happy bunny this morning. I figure that babies are cute as a defence mechanism. Just as you're about to snap, they smile or gurgle...

Sunday 23 March 2003

Well, not exactly the result I was hoping for, but the new rules do seem to be playing to McLaren. If this continues it should do Coulthard some good. Although I'd suggest he doesn't want to make too many of...

Check out Alonso! Still hanging on in there in second place. Of course, if Coulthard hadn't dropped out he'd be in 3rd but it's still a top result for Renault. And then, just as I type, Alonso came into the...

With Sharon home but bed ridden, it falls to your truly to look after the children. At precisely 6.15am Connor decided it was time I got up. By 6.30 I realised he wasn't going to go back to sleep and...

Wednesday 19 March 2003

I've been here before recently. Only not. Sitting in front of my PC noting my woes in public having just spent a couple of hours getting all of the kids stuff ready for tomorrow. Wife in hospital, still quite poorly....

All gone - Well, it's over. Thankfully her operation wasn't cancelled and, after crawling out of bed at 6am we were at the hospital for 7 o'clock (we had time for me to stop for a McDonalds' breakfast though). The...

Monday 17 March 2003

Tomorrow morning, 7am Sharon is due to go into hospital to have her gall bladder removed. This is the fourth appointment that has been made. The first, in December, was cancelled with a weeks notice. The second was cancelled on...

Sunday 9 March 2003

My Xmas present to Sharon was a car. It stretched the budget a touch, and we couldn't afford anything flash. With just a budget of £500 (I still hadn't started work) we managed to find a Citroen AX 1.4 TRZ...

Friday 7 March 2003

What a week at work! The last 3 days have been absolutely hectic and I've been getting home completely knackered. My stack of ongoing cases is getting higher every day and the work involved in each seems to get more...

Wednesday 5 March 2003

I had a dizzy spell this evening. No ordinary "stood up a little too quick" touch of dizziness. No. A dizziness bomb exploded behind my eyes setting off nausea and putting lights in my vision. I thought I was going...

Thursday 13 February 2003

I have avoided this subject for as long as I have felt able because I suspect my views do not match those of the majority of people who read this blog. But, at the risk of being ostracised by everyone...

Saturday 1 February 2003

So. Sharon spent weeks psyching herself up for this operation. She spent days organising things like child-care with relatives. I took a days leave from work at a value of approximately £100 and gave away £200 worth of disco bookings...

Tuesday 28 January 2003

When you're still recovering on the Monday morning, you know its time to stop partying as hard as you used to. Sharon and I are finally facing the reality that we can cut it like we could a few years...

Thursday 16 January 2003

I've got a bit to blog about. Unfortunately the new season of Buffy starts tonight on Sky so I'm a little busy. I may have a little time during Angel because its just a repeat of last season but all...

Tuesday 14 January 2003

I've had a nasty head cold since the middle of December. Its given me, at various times, ear infections in both ears and a throat infection. On Saturday night / early Sunday morning the ear infection in my right ear...

Friday 10 January 2003

Today didn't suck. When I woke up, the heating had taken the chill off the house. I didn't have to scrape ice off the car. I felt like I acheived something at work this morning. I got some advice completed...

Saturday 4 January 2003

New Years Eve is always a big celebration. Sharon was 30 on New Years Day giving us extra reason to celebrate. I won't go into details but we had an immense amount of fun but we are still suffering now....

Wednesday 18 December 2002

Over a week without a post. I'm sorry. Unfortunately it has not been due to a lack of things to post about. It has been mainly due to a major de-motivation to do anything that is not absolutely necessary. Work,...

Wednesday 13 November 2002

I'm not well. I've not been well for a few weeks now. Nothing serious, just a head cold, but I can't shake it and rather than slowly getting better it seems to be getting worse and digging in for the...

I seem to be experiencing the Blogging Blahs. It's an affliction, kind of like writers block only not, which affects most bloggers at some point. Mine at the moment is brought on by a complete lack of time to consider,...

Monday 21 October 2002

I'm slap bang in the middle of 9 days of solid work (including 3 evenings) and I'm pretty knackered. Including discos and van driving, I worked 32 hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Today I did a 12 hour day...

Friday 18 October 2002

Almost 72 hours without a single post! What on earth has been going on. Am I ill? Was I knocked down by a surprisingly speedy funeral procession? Was my PC so over run with pr0n spam that it gave up...

Saturday 12 October 2002

We' gathered together tonight, a group of us that have had new arrivals over the last 2 months. They were all boys and we were the first of the bunch to welcome our new life to the world. Unfortunately, having...

Friday 11 October 2002

So here I am, after about an hours sleep, ready to embark on the lowest paid job I have had since I was a paperboy 16 years ago. What a bunch of unrested, uncalled for, desperate for the money arseburgers!...

It never ceases to amaze me the number of ways my own body finds to betray me. Noisy bodily functions during important meetings. Lack of energy during grueling tasks. The (very) occassional failure to perform to the usual standards in...

Thursday 10 October 2002

After registering with a driving staff agency yesterday, I got a phone call this afternoon offering me some "drivers mate" work. Basically I have to be up at 4.30am and out of the house by 5.00am ready to start work...

Wednesday 9 October 2002

What is it about us, that when we think we're good and/or experienced at something, we almost wish other people would mess up so that we can offer them guidance and assistance. Sharon and I went round to see Jack...

Inertia. I've been out of work for too long. Today I went and registered with a recruitment agency for some multi-drop van driving work. It consists of loading a van with parcels needing delivering to 20 or 30 different places...

Thursday 3 October 2002

Sometimes I write because I have something you may find interesting. Sometimes I write because I have something I want to say. Sometimes I need to get something off my chest. Sometimes I write because I have something I don't...

Tuesday 1 October 2002

OK, I take that back. My life is not boring. There's just not much going on at the moment that would interest anyone enough to write about. I spent almost the whole day yesterday going paper work for the entertainment...

Tuesday 24 September 2002

Wil Wheaton has an excellent little piece of writing today. The smell of a perfume on a complete stranger brought back recollections of early romantic fumblings. It got me thinking; what happened to my memories of times like that? I...

Saturday 21 September 2002

I've been a little remiss on the journal type entries of late. This really is because I've had very little to talk about. Depression still mutes my reactions to virtually every experience. I find it hard to get excited about...

Sunday 15 September 2002

Yesterday morning, at about 5am, Sharon was awoken with an excruciating pain in her midriff. The pain she said was the worst she has ever experienced, worse than anything to do with the caesarean. It was located directly under her...

Monday 9 September 2002

...... I've written and thrown away about 4 entries since Friday. I've not known what to say. Facing up to what Thursday means to me is difficult. It scares me that I've had an anxiety attack because that is so...

Friday 6 September 2002

Wednesday 28 August 2002

I've just found out from the Benefits Agency that, despite being told I should sign on in order to receive Jobseekers Allowance, the Jobseekers Allowance I would be entitled to is precisely £0. Because I am making some attempt to...

100 things.I married my first ever serious girlfriend. We'd had a break from first dating to getting back together of nearly 13 years. During that time I had been married and widowed. I have 5 body piercings. Only 2 are...

Sunday 25 August 2002

Despite having less than 3 hours sleep last night, this weekend has been a good weekend. Yesterday I caught up on some admin for the disco. Last night's wedding disco went quite well. I tend to judge how good a...

Thursday 22 August 2002

I finally went down to the Job Centre today and signed on to receive my crappy "Contribution-based" Jobseekers allowance. I get a total of £53 to support a family of 5. If I quit trying to be self sufficient and...

My old high school burnt down last night. The adult in me recognises the damage and disruption this will cause, especially as today was the day that the 18 year olds were supposed to have picked up their A level...

Wednesday 7 August 2002

I can't explain why, but I've had real trouble concentrating on anything for the last few days. It feels like trying to think through cotton wool. Minutes drift by into hours and still I've got nothing achieved. Sharon's starting to...

Tuesday 6 August 2002

Last night I finally got chance to go out with a few friends and celebrate Connor's arrival in the style traditional for new fathers. I had fully intended to just have a few drinks and be back by 10.30pm. Instead...

Sunday 4 August 2002

For someone with no full time occupation I seem to have precious little time. Looking after a newborn is an incredibly all consuming activity. Connor seems to sleep all day but won't settle at night leaving Sharon and I worn...

Thursday 25 July 2002

Exhaustion and acid indigestion, and that's just me. Sharon's recovery is going OK but a little slower than the nurses would like. I understand that, because this was her third caesarean, the surgeons had to "mess her around a little"...

Sunday 21 July 2002

Well I think I've had about 5 minutes to myself since Friday morning. Its like having teeth pulled. On Friday Sharon & I went to the dentist. Sharon's afraid of the dentist so that was a bit of a trauma....

Thursday 18 July 2002

At the moment (2 mins to 12) I'm still in the middle of rebuilding the light screens for the front of the disco. I've changed them to reflect the new company name because I'm doing a charity do tomorrow and...

For those of you who keep blogs, do you cringe when you look back over entries posted when you were feeling a little down? Do you read through them and think "I sound like such a whining drama queen?" because...

Friday 12 July 2002

Some spiteful, uncaring, poisonous little toads stole my motorbike at lunchtime today. Whilst we were in the house they wrenched open the garage door and in broad daylight threw my bike into the back of their red van. They say...

Thursday 11 July 2002

I spent the entire day today cleaning the house from top to bottom. A woman whose kids attend the school down the road was coming to see Sharon about child minding her kids from September. She didn't turn up. And...

Wednesday 10 July 2002

Its been one of those days were everything has turned into a drama. First off a routine visit to see Sharon's consultant to update on how she's coping took 3 1/2 hours. The original clinic had been cancelled without us...

Tuesday 9 July 2002

The total removal of all familiar structure to my days and weeks together with the stress of coping with what's going on recently has left me feeling a little disorientated. I can't place my days and I'm finding it difficult...

Sunday 7 July 2002

Just this evening when I'm looking at stuff my eyes hurt. But if I close them then they stop hurting. I don't think there's anything specifically wrong (its not long since they were last tested) but probably symptomatic of my...

Friday 5 July 2002

What an excellent day so far! Sharon is home again and feeling much more comfortable for it. She has been told to do just minimal amounts of activity, to eat small amounts frequently and to drink lots. Hopefully if she...

Sunday 30 June 2002

Sharon is still feeling uncomfortable but seems to be a lot happier for being at home. Everybody is chipping in and helping out with the kids and the house work. some friends had James and Chloe for 2 hours and...

Friday 28 June 2002

Perspective. Its amazing what a good nights sleep can do for you. I re-read last nights blog and the tired section sounds so over dramatic. I was going to edit it out but that just feels false. Where's the point...

Thursday 27 June 2002

Sharon can come home tomorrow (provided there's no disasters overnight). Her consultant finally came to see her this afternoon. Although she's having contractions every 5 to 10 minutes she's not actually giving birth. So the consultant said they want to...

Wednesday 26 June 2002

At 5 o'clock this morning Sharon started having contractions without actually going into labour (don't ask, because I probably couldn't answer). The doctors gave her Pethadrin to stop the contraction which left her a little disorientated (at one point she...

Tuesday 25 June 2002

Sharon phoned me at midday today to tell me she was in the hospital. The consultant is worried about the effect that the baby is having on her caesarean scars. Apparently it's causing her to have weak contractions. So they're...

The trousers for my new suit arrived this morning having been altered. I feel like a kid with new clothes that has to wear them immediately. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever grow up. It does make a diiference though,...

Saturday 22 June 2002

They're like weekdays but without any work. Another weekend without any discos, which is nice in a way because I don't have to rush around like a madman to get everything done in time to go out and do my...

Friday 21 June 2002

After a particularly bad afternoon at work today I wasn't going to post another entry today. Self pity is a horrible thing and, in hindsight, incredibly selfish. Once again, as soon as I got home my spirits were lifted. After...

...meant that the roads were empty this morning and I arrived at work on time!!! The enthusiasm for this match is so over the top that it's almost infectious. Listening to the radio I found myself starting to root for...

And I notice that this page has been listed on Google already with a page ranking of about 5/10, which is not bad at all. Especially considering its only 4 days old. So why cant I get www.aardvark.dj listed at...

Tuesday 18 June 2002

Sharon got a wierd phone call this afternoon. When she answered, nobody spoke but there were some strange mumbling noises and she coud hear someone in the background. It wasn't until she recongnised a voice saying "That's nice what've you...

Obviously, I'm pretty new to blogging. I'm trying to find my way around and just about the only way to do that is to check out some other blogs. And I'm thinking; Does the world need another blog? What do...

Monday 17 June 2002

I've done bugger all at work today other than set up this weblog. Its pretty hard to stay motivated when you've only got 2 weeks left and none of your previous work has seen any real recognition. I'm a VAT...

And so it may finish. Just what the world needs; another Blog. Sorry. I will fill this with things on my mind. Random stuff mainly. A bit of a diary. Some useful stuff I trip over. Some of the years...